New York City charter schools (less qualified for city's specialized high schools)

CHARTER SCHOOLKIDS' ELITE STATUS SLIPPING; March 11, 2011; New York Post

The percentage of charter-school eighth-graders who performed well enough to qualify for one of the city's specialized high schools has declined by nearly half since 2009, according to data obtained by The Post.

Just over 5 percent of the 677 charter kids who sat for the Specialized High School Admissions Test in 2011 got offers from Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech or five other elite high schools.

A ninth specialized high school, La Guardia Performing Arts, requires an audition for entry.

The data show that while the number of charter kids qualifying for an elite seat has dipped only slightly since 2009 -- from 42 to 35 -- the number sitting for the exam has grown by more than 200.

Two years ago, 9.2 percent of the 459 charter applicants aced the rigorous entrance exam.

"It follows the same trend we saw last year where the public schools outperformed the charter schools," said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.

When state officials raised the passing bar on state tests in 2010, charters saw larger drops in pass rates overall than did traditional public schools -- although charters maintained a slim lead in performance in both math and reading.

Last year, for the first time, however, traditional public schools outperformed charters on the city's A-through-F report cards, which emphasize year-to-year progress…

The drop in charter-school success with the elite high schools was slightly steeper than but mirrored the drop in the percentage of black and Hispanic students citywide who qualified for the elite schools.

Just 11 percent of black and Hispanic test takers qualified for a specialized high school this year -- down from 13 percent in 2009.

The vast majority of students served by charter schools are black and Hispanic.